Bag seal and handle



March 2,- 1948. C., 1 THOMPSON 2,437,055

- I BAG SEAL AND HANDLE l.

Filed July 15, 1946 fl- 27 Z@ Y /45 Aff Patented Mar. 2, v1948 UNITED` s'rlrrlas PATENT OFFICE l f 2,437,055 f y BAG SEAL nNnHANnLE y Clifford ThompsomDavenport, Fla. lApplication July 15, 1946,.,'seria1 No. ssa'sss This invention relates to devices for sealing a bag which is closed -by a drawstring and has for its principal object the provision of such a device which may be quickly and rmly applied and preferably has the additional advantage of serving as a handle for the bag.

' At the presenttime fruit bags are generally of rather open mesh andare closed by a draw string which is pulled tight and then the string is wrapped around the mouth of the bag and knotted. After even a small amount of handling the knot becomes very rmly tied and it is difficult to untie the string.

The present invention contemplates a, very simple and inexpensive strip of material having notches to receive the draw string and which will seal the bag very appreciably without the use of any knot at all.

In its preferred form, the sealing device may readily form a handle as it is quite elongated and has at the free end a point which ends rearwardly in a prong which can be readily caught in the mesh of the bag and is at a distance from the cord holding the recesses to afford a convenient grasp for the hand of the user.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows the preferred form of my device. I

Figure 2 shows a modification.

Figure 3 is a further modification.

Figure 4 is an edge view.

In the preferred form, sheet material such as xylonite or any other plastic is used, but the device may be made of fibre, metal or other material. In the form which I have used, the holder is about 11s thick, 3A to 1" wide and 6" long, but I do not wish to be limited :by these Iigures which are illustrative only.

One of the long edges of the strip, such as I0, has an indentation II leading through a wedge opening l2 into an eye I4. On the opposite long edge I5 there is a recess I6 leading to a bight Il and in the nearby short edge of the device there is a bight I8. In use the two ends, 20 and 2I, oi? the draw string of the net bag 24 are caught in the eye I4, preferably with the thumb of the user grasping the body 25 of the holder with the thumb adjacent' the eye I4. The user may thus press the device firmly against the bag closing the mouth of the bag quite tight.

The string is then brought into the recess I6 and pulled into the bight I1, then crossed so that 4 Claims. (Cl. 224-57) the string passes in the bight I8 and then brought 2 entirely upon the relative size of the cord and the-diameter of the eye I4. The cord thus forms Yan equilateral triangle as the cord holding re'- cesses, that is, the eye I4 and the bights Il and VvI8, are roughly equidistant. At the other endV of the elongatedbody 25 the device is formed into avpoint 30 at the angle formed by the concave curve 3l, and the convex curve 32. A recess 33 formedby the'curves 34 and 35 forma hook 36 or prong which, after purchase of the bag of fruit, can be hooked into the mesh of the bag and especially if provided with an eye, such as 3l, forms an anchor for the free end of the holder, whereby the holder forms a very convenient handle for the bag of fruit.

The pointed end 30 aids in pushing the free end of the holder through the mesh to space the threads of the net and this gives a much more permanent attachment than -if the hook 36 were used alone, as it obviously may be.

In the form 'shown in Figure 2, the slots or bights I2, Il and I8 are somewhat deepened so that the slots 40 and 4I may be identical but it is preferred that the short slot 43 in the short end 44 of the device be rather simple. The advantage of this form is that the cord may be caught in either the bight 40 or in the bight 4I, whereas in the preferred form it is intended that the cord shall always be caught rst in the slot I2.

In either form to seal the bag the operator needs only to slip the string in a holding notch, push the handle down the string to the mouth of the bag, pass the string over and down the notch on the opposite side of the holder and bring it up so it lies in the end notch or the notch of the shorter edge, then the string is returned down the first 'notch and the string is pulled tight. The string will not pull loose when tied in this manner and when the bag of fruit is sold the customer merely hooks the free end in the mesh of the bag and carries the bag away, the arrangement as shown in the drawings being such that the weight is perfectly balanced on the handle which may be and preferably is of transparent plastic and may or may not carry advertising or other printed matter.

In the modified form of Figure 3, the wedge opening and eye are modified by making the latter diamond shaped and the wedge slot is made with almost parallel sides as shown at 50. The bight 5I is of more simple form than in the other figures while bight 53 in the short edge 54 follows the configuration of parts 43 and 44 of Figure 2. Whichever of the two strings 20 and 2i is passed through slot 5I! last is wedged in the strip of exible material having at one end aV `l point formed by the junction of arconcave curved edge anda convex curved edge, meeting in an acute angle, having a deep recess 'extending rtoward the point forming a hook adjacent the concave edge portion, having at the end farthest from the point a recess and on each Aof the two sides near said farthest end a cord receiving slot ending in an eye, whereby when the `two cords' of the draw string are inserted rin one .of the .eyes and the strip is pressed down to the bag while holding the free ends of the draw string the bag is closed and maybe held closed by winding 4 flexible strip at least four times as long as it is wide, having near one end a series of closely spaced cord holding recesses and at the opposite end a pointed hook to catch into the mesh of the bag material below the closure drawstring.

3. The device of claim 2 in which the series of recesses include a bight in one long edge, a wedge opening leading to an eye in the opposite long edge, and a third recess which is a bight.

4. The device bf claim 2in which the pointed hook has a deep indentation or recess beside the prong or back of the hook extending deeply into the strip at an angle very roughly 45 so that the point may be inserted into a mesh bag and the prong ofthe hook will prevent withdrawal of the strip 'from the bag.

20 the string through the other slot and the .recess and back! through 'the first-eye and the strip may therefore become a handle by catching the hook 'in the net at a convenient point, vthe distance between the hook and the slots being at leastas `great as the width'ofan a'duit hand.

2. A device for holding `the drawstring of a net bag to `close the bag and serving as a -hand-1e for the "bag when so closed, compri-sing an elongated 'CLIFFORD J. THOIVIPSON.

REFERENCES CITED The .following Yreferences are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Brady Nov. 3, 1931 

